Best Free AntiMalware in 2023

[markstitovits]

What is the best free antimalware solution in your opinion? Please explain in the comments below why you chose that

 

[Dhruv2193]

I find following to be top tier. All are top-notch-
1. Kaspersky
2. Avast/AVG
3. Bitdefender

 

[Digmor Crusher]

I find following to be top tier. All are top-notch-
1. Kaspersky
2. Emsisoft
3. Avast/AVG
4. Norton
5. Eset
6. Bitdefender
7. Trend Micro

Some of those aren't free.

 

[Dhruv2193]

Some of those aren't free.

Thanks edited my post.

 

[pvsurfer]

What is the best free antimalware solution in your opinion? Please explain in the comments below why you chose that

When WiseVector StopX chose to no longer provide/support a free version of its antimalware I gave that question a lot of thought. Were it not for Russia invading Ukraine I probably would have chosen Kaspersky Free as its replacement, but now can't trust it. I first gave Avast/AVG Free a go, but they had way too many upgrade nags to suit me so then I installed and started using Bitdefender Free and so far I like it quite a bit - it has the very same (highly regarded) engine as the paid BD products, I find its interface user-friendly and it is almost nag-free insofar as upgrading to paid versions. I find its use of my laptop's resources isn't noticeable except when conducting a system scan. So far, my only complaint is that of FPs and the effort to remove them from quarantine!

 

[Abnormal]

kaspersky and bitdefender
both really reliable and can't use both in my country :'(
i wonder why eset wont release a free av version i think the market demands it

 

[Pat MacKnife]

My Top 3 :
1. Bitdefender Antivirus free
2. Avira Free security
3. Avast/AVG

 

[Moonhorse]

Wisevector were best, sadly its gone

 

[Sorrento]

For free, Microsoft Defender, I don't use it but I have never used any free AV's - IMHO Defender is trustable but a bit hard on a system as I have given it a whirl from time to time.

 

[Trident]

McAfee is not free.

Bitdefender, Avast, Kaspersky. Neither one is a wrong choice - they are all highly effective. BD free is a bit limited, many essential features like script scanning are locked, it should be kept in mind.

 

[ForgottenSeer 98186]

The answer to "What is the best free antimalware in 2023" - or to "What is the best anything" for that matter - is not a black-and-white, clear-cut answer. Such a question does not assess anything except on the basis of opinion. Opinion is very imprecise and does not establish quality nor superiority. It is a personal assessment that is not objective. For example, the Pepsi challenge was famous for this: "Which tastes better - Pepsi or Coke?" More people responded to Pepsi after a taste test, but that does not establish that Pepsi is "better". It just establishes that the majority of people PREFER the taste of Pepsi.

Anyone that uses the results of opinion polls to claim their "product is superior in every way" is, at the very least, violating consumer protection and advertising laws.

• Bitdefender - for the user that prefers a minimalist automated solution
• Kaspersky - for the user that wants to just install and be assured of good default-allow protection
• Windows Defender - for the user who wants to harden their free AV (the poll is not clear, but technically Windows Defender is not just the antivirus security feature; WD is a group of interconnected security features that go well-beyond all of the other listed freewares).

If one is only interested in absolute protection based upon default-allow signatures, then all of those products will provide essentially the same protection.

 

[Sorrento]

For me opinion is simply the sum of my experience with products, I prefer a more simplistic approach without to many bells & whistles - A thread such as this gives people the ability to voice theirs - I've found many products from viewing forums & likewise to avoid some software - There is more to software than essential protection, as in my hobby hi-fi, I've spend half a lifetime looking for what I want & maybe found it as in loudspeakers, this was based on the opinion of a friend, thanks Dave!

 

[ttto]

1- Norton
2- Kaspersky
3- Bitdefender

 

[ForgottenSeer 98186]

For me opinion is simply the sum of my experience with products

While valid at the personal level, opinion is a highly flawed measure of anything. What you prefer is not what others will prefer. What is important to you is not what is important to others. Opinions are too subjective.

Unless any poll asks precise, detailed questions then the results are just too vague to be a reliable measure of anything.

I know there are people replying to this poll that have not used all of the products listed in the poll. So that fact alone invalidates the results. For an opinion poll to be valid in any way, the people taking the poll must have equal direct experience in the subjects queried in the poll.

 

[Sorrento]

It's just a bit of fun that's all from my perspective anyway.

 

[ForgottenSeer 98186]

It's just a bit of fun that's all from my perspective anyway.

I understand this and my prior posts are not meant to diminish the poll in any way. It is just pointing out the utility of such polls and what can and cannot be interpreted from the results. What I am saying is that a vendor using the results of opinion polls to claim their product "is superiror in every way" is both bogus and illegal.

While fun the results mean very little. Software opinion polls are highly susceptible to bias and fanboyism. Factor-in that there are respondents that chose Kaspersky who have only ever used Kaspersky and Windows Defender out of that list. Doesn't make the poll results very useful.

 

[Trident]

What I am saying is that a vendor using the results of opinion polls to claim their product "is superiror in every way" is both bogus and illegal

There are no vendors around here, but the AVC product of the year poll was quoted by few companies on their social media accounts. Even though it’s a subjective opinion poll I highly disregard and don’t agree with. Using polls in marketing is legal unless further claims such as “we are the best, look at these results here” or similar have been made. When you simply share the results and let users assume and interpret, it may just subjectively be classified as unethical. It is the same with providing an overall Trust Pilot or any other customer satisfaction rating.

All of the companies behind products in this poll have been in the business for over 20 years (some have powered many other businesses as well) and there is no evidence that can be supplied to prove that any of them doesn’t offer acceptable protection, is unfit for its purpose or has more issues/limitations/nags/hits and misses than the whole industry as an overall (which has never been flowers and roses in the first place).

 

[monkeylove]

I think Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky have similar protection performance, but there are problems with system impact, etc.

For Avast, One is heavy via NovaBench benchmarking, while Free is lighter, and you can choose not to install components that you don't need. However, popups for upgrades now take place once in a while.

AVG is similar in terms of lightness, and there appears to be no popups for upgrades, but impact on the system seems to be a bit heavier.

Kaspersky has a weird effect on browsers with Adguard for Desktop, such that in some cases forum pages that I revisit aren't loaded fully. This happens even if I clear the cache and disable Adguard. Also, popups for upgrades show up even if I disable any notification settings I can think of that are connected to that.

Bitdefender has similar problems as Kaspersky in terms of browser page loading, but it's very difficult to install: sometimes, downloading the installer is slow unless you use a VPN. In addition, with or without upgrades the system tray icon might show up only a minute or so after startup, or not at all. It also feels as heavy as Windows Security although NovaBench scores show otherwise.

Windows Security is the heaviest of the lot, both in terms of benchmarking scores and loading pages, browsing files, etc.

I tried Avira, but I can't remember much except that it was heavy in terms of benchmarking.

Given that, I can recommend only Avast and AVG, and preferably the first, and use the regular free version instead of One Essentials. And if any popups show up and annoy you, you can try AVG.

 

[Trident]

Avast and AVG now come with the same pledge to get your money back in case the product has failed to detect all viruses and support has failed to remove them, so Gen Digital has 2 options:

1. Remove the custom selection of components
2. Disable Virus Protection Promise when not all components are installed.

Knowing Norton it will probably be the first. But they will not let you both install 2-3 components only and make claims. We’ll see soon.

 

[ForgottenSeer 98186]

There are no vendors around here,

Actually, there is one in particular that does think that opinion polls prove his product is "superior in every way" as he has said publicly numerous times.

Since it is done here on this forum with the intent of promoting their product, it is legally considered advertising and subject to consumer protection and advertising regulations.

Using polls in marketing is legal unless further claims such as “we are the best, look at these results here” or similar have been made.

In the USA it is a Lanham Act violation. A user or a competitor can sue the violator for false or fraudulent advertising. The awards are, more often than not, huge - enough to plow a small operation right into the ground.

there is no evidence that can be supplied to prove that any of them doesn’t offer acceptable protection, is unfit for its purpose or has more issues/limitations/nags/hits and misses than the whole industry as an overall (which has never been flowers and roses in the first place).

The only such evidence that exists is their internal data, which none of them will ever willingly share publicly.

Someobody out there working for one of the AVs should pull an Assange-Snowden-Bradley AV Wikileaks and dump all the internal data that shows how bad the protection actually is onto the www.